Watershed scale assessment of nitrogen and phosphorus loadings in the Indian River Lagoon basin,Florida

There is a growing evidence that the ecological and biological integrity of the lagoon has declined during the last 50 years, probably due to the decline in water quality. Establishment of a watershed scale seagrass-based nutrient load assessment is the major aim of water quality management in the Indian River Lagoon (IRL). Best estimate loadings incorporate wet and dry deposition, surface water, groundwater, sediment nutrient flux, and point source effluent discharge data. On the average, the IRL is receiving annual external loadings of 832, 645 and 94,476kg of total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP), respectively, from stormwater discharges and agricultural runoff. The average internal cycling of TN and TP from sediment deposits in the IRL was about 42,640kg TN and 1050kg TPyr(-1). Indirect evidence suggests that atmospheric deposition has played a role in the ongoing nutrient enrichment in the IRL. The estimated total atmospheric deposition of TN and TP was about 32,940 and 824kgyr(-1), while groundwater contribution was about 84,920 and 24,275kgyr(-1), respectively, to the surface waters of the IRL. The estimated annual contribution of point effluent discharge was about 60,408kg TN and 7248kg TP. In total, the IRL basin is receiving an annual loading of about 1,053,553kg TN and 127,873kg TP. With these results, it is clear that the current rate of nutrient loadings is causing a shift in the primary producers of the IRL from macrophyte to phytoplankton- or algal-based system. The goal is to reverse that shift, to attain and maintain a macrophyte-based estuarine system in the IRL.     

Comparative Influence of Forest Management and Habitat Structural Factors on the Abundances of Hollow-Nesting Bird Species in Subtropical Australian Eucalypt Forest

We examined the impact of single-tree selective logging and fuel reduction burns on the abundance of hollow-nesting bird species at a regional scale in southeastern Queensland, Australia. Data were collected on species abundance and habitat structure of dry sclerophyll production forest at 36 sites with known logging and fire histories. Sixteen bird species were recorded with most being resident, territorial, obligate hollow nesters that used hollows that were either small (<10 cm diameter) or very large (>18 cm diameter). Species densities were typically low, but combinations of two forest management and three habitat structural variables influenced the abundances of eight bird species in different and sometimes conflicting ways. The results suggest that habitat tree management for biodiversity in production forests cannot depend upon habitat structural characteristics alone. Management histories appear to have independent influence (on some bird species) that are distinguishable from their impacts on habitat structure per se. Rather than managing to maximize species abundances to maintain biodiversity, we may be better off managing to avoid extinctions of populations by identifying thresholds of acceptable fluctuations in populations of not only hollow-nesting birds but other forest dependent wildlife relative to scientifically valid forest management and habitat structural surrogates.     

大兴安岭林区地下火形成火环境研究

地下火作为森林中一种难以控制的燃烧现象,其形成机理极为复杂。我国大兴安岭林区是森林地下火的多发地区。对该地区2002年发生的地下火研究表明：丰富的近土壤层和地下可燃物是森林地下火发生的物质条件,气象条件促进了森林地下火的发生,特别是在遇到降水少、长期干旱、地面温度增加、相对湿度降低和可燃物干燥的情况下,就很容易引起地下火灾。地下火有地理和时间分布特征。地表火主要发生在原始森林区域,如针叶林、阔叶林或针阔混交林,都有可能发生地下火。地下火一般燃烧速度慢,持续时间长,燃烧充分,具有隐蔽性强、燃烧不连续、方向易变等特点,地下火在所有火灾中对森林危害最大,特别是对落叶松、樟子松、云杉等的破坏更为严重。     

On Methods for Analyzing Ecotones of Forest Margins

A simple method for the quantitative gradient analysis of a xerotermic forest-margin ecotone is described. In this method, the mean value of the coefficient of similarity between all plots of the transect is used for estimating the rate of changes in species composition. Changes in the phytosociological spectrum are analyzed. The method adequately reflects trends in the displacement of forest species by forest-margin, steppe, and meadow species.     

THE MILWAUKEE POLLUTION CASE - IMPLICATIONS FOR WATER RESOURCES PLANNING1

ABSTRACT: The Illinois v. Milwaukee Federal District Court decision is the most far reaching application yet of the federal common law of nuisance to interstate water pollution conflicts. Although a Federal Appelate Court recently rescinded part of the district court decision, Milwaukee must still upgrade its metropolitan sewage system to a level beyond that required by federal and state regulations. The improvements must be completed with or without federal aid. The case points out the apparent inability of the Clean Water Act, the most comprehensive federal legislation affecting the nation's water quality, to deal with certain interstate water quality conflicts. The Milwaukee decision could set a precedent for similar settlements elsewhere which may in turn affect the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's water quality clean up program. A more integrated, ecosystem conscious approach to management of shared water resources (e.g., the Great Lakes) would help reduce the need for court decisions like Illinois v. Milwaukee.     

岷江上游林草交错带祁连山圆柏群落的物种多样性及乔木种群的分布格局

应用5种多样性指数对祁连山圆柏群落的物种多样性进行了研究，并采用相邻格子样方法测定了乔木种群及其各立木级的分布格局．结果表明，灌木层的物种多样性偏低，而草本层多样性较高，群落总的物种多样性(以丰富度表示)较高．群落总的物种多样性较高是由于较低的灌木层多样性与较高的草本层多样性综合作用的结果，与放牧影响、阳坡的干燥环境有关，可能是林草交错区固有的特点．乔木种群的分布格局呈现出集群分布，但在其发育过程中显示了动态变化的特征，即在幼苗和小树阶段为集群分布，到了大树阶段转变为随机分布或均匀分布．表6参32     

RESEARCH ISSUES IN FOREST HYDROLOGY1

ABSTRACT: This paper explores a range of forest hydrology issues and identifies my concepts of the field's most pressing research needs. I extend the topic to include teaching and education in the broader sense because current teaching is usually part of the researcher's portfolio and because education involves that of both the research scientist and a broader audience. I consider the primary research, education, and service roles of the forest hydrologist also within a range of domains or, as I prefer to identify them, scales: (1) the molecular or pore level; (2) hydrological process; (3) watershed function; (4) global considerations, and (5) the human dimension which, while not actually a scale itself, embraces, is important to, and is affected by the first four. All are topics screaming for attention by researchers, educators, and practitioners. I shall here focus on the middle three.     

Institutions, Forest Management, and Sustainable Human Development – Experiences from India

New institutional economists have argued that there are many categories of institutions, including market and non-market institutions, which may prove economically efficient, specifically for public goods and common pool goods. The Government of India introduced a non-market community-based institution, known as Joint Forest Management (JFM), for forest management and protection in 1990. JFM is a sharing mechanism for forest planning and management based on sharing of rights and duties, control and decision-making authority over forestlands, between forest departments and local user groups. By 2001, 42 000 Village Forest Committees established under JFM were managing over 11.5 million ha forestland. These institutions have proved very useful, and have contributed to forest management as well as four aspects of sustainable human development (SHD) – ecological output, income generation, village infrastructure development, and community empowerment. In the long-term, community-based institutions will prove to be a foundation of SHD and participatory democracy.     

Images of war: using satellite images for human rights monitoring in Turkish Kurdistan

In areas of war and armed conflict it is difficult to get trustworthy and coherent information. Civil society and human rights groups often face problems of dealing with fragmented witness reports, disinformation of war propaganda, and difficult direct access to these areas. Turkish Kurdistan was used as a case study of armed conflict to evaluate the potential use of satellite images for verification of witness reports collected by human rights groups. The Turkish army was reported to be burning forests, fields and villages as a strategy in the conflict against guerrilla uprising. This paper concludes that satellite images are useful to validate witness reports of forest fires. Even though the use of this technology for human rights groups will depend on some feasibility factors such as prices, access and expertise, the images proved to be key for analysis of spatial aspects of conflict and valuable for reconstructing a more trustworthy picture.     

高森林火险天气形势及其前期气候特征与预报

利用1980-2006年27年间黑龙江省林区发生的37次特大森林火灾资料,针对高空500hPa温压场的结构,将着火前3天短期时段内的天气形势分为4类8型,在此基础上对相对湿度与气温等因子的变化进行了分析,并对高火险日数及前期气候与大气环流特征进行了预报.